I last for a total of five minutes reading posts in a sub forum entitled “The Toxic Cunt” before I’m sick to my stomach. When Lucas finds me kneeling over the toilet in the tiny restroom stall dry heaving, he comes onto the floor next to me, his gorgeous face frowning in concern.
“Sienna?” he says, but I splay my palm out on his chest and shake my head.
For the second time this evening, I have a chance to tell him exactly what’s going on, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I let him help me up and wrap my arms tightly around his neck when he lifts me up in his bare, tattooed arms.
He takes me back to our small bed, whispering into the crook of my neck, and I say nothing.
Chapter 14
By the time we reach St. Louis in the morning, I’ve pushed Sam’s crazy ass note and the discovery of how fiercely some of Lucas’s fans hate me to a dark corner in the back of my mind. As ironic as it sounds, thinking about either is toxic for me, and if I concentrate on it, I’ll just make myself sick again. I think about this day, and night, off instead.
As I peek out of the blinds in the galley, I’m practically bouncing on the balls of my feet in anticipation of getting off of our bus. Two of the other drivers have already maneuvered bus into parking places. I watch as the rest of Your Toxic Sequel, and Cilla’s group, start to unload. There’s a white shuttle bus parked in between them, and Wyatt ducks inside of it, lugging a giant green duffel bag.
Lucas slides up behind me, tickling my shoulder with his full lips. “Are we taking the shuttle too?”
“We’re not even staying at the same hotel. When I told you I wanted you all to myself, I had no intention of half-assing it.” His voice slides over me like velvet. I turn my face sideways, and he strokes the outline of my face before nodding to the far end of the parking lot where a sleek, black 7-series BMW is parked. “I’ve dealt with the manager at the rental company—well, Kylie has on behalf of me—so they pulled some strings and made sure it was here for my arrival.”
Our bus starts to beep to indicate that we’re safely parked. In the center compartment, I hear a loud bang followed by an even louder curse from Sinjin. As soon as I yell to ask him if he’s okay and he growls that he is, I meet Lucas’s amused eyes. “So what about the key? Even Lucas-Fucking-Wolfe can’t pull off driving a car with no key.”
He smirks. “Since you have to know—they overnighted it to me.” To prove his point, he pulls me by the wrist out into the aisle of the bus and dangles a key fob over my face.
My thoughts shift to a few nights ago, at the Dallas show when he had locked himself in the restroom for the sake of a call. “How long have you been planning this?”
“A while.”
I shake my head incredulously. “Do you always have to be different?”
“Always.” He pulls me up against him, grinding his c**k against the front of my body. The motion is rough, animalistic, and it makes me feel like the bus is spinning around. I try to touch him, but he holds my hand still. “Do you have to ask so many f**king questions?”
Breathlessly, I nod. “Always.”
Our mouths inch closer, but as soon as his lips begin to skim mine, Sinjin coughs loudly. He’s bleary-eyed with his short black hair poking up all over the place. “It’s 6AM,” he complains, yawning. “All I want is a real bed, not to watch you two about to f**k on the table I eat on.”
Sin’s interruption gives us the much-needed boost to grab our stuff so we can leave. I’ve packed an overnight bag with enough clothing to last me through tomorrow night. It’s small in comparison to Lucas’s enormous bag, but he carries both off of the bus. I tote my purse along with my Gibson guitar and my laptop, though I have no plans for music or work.
Or checking up on what’s being said about me via the Internet.
I shudder. “I will not think about that shit during this break,” I repeat as I walk slowly across the parking lot. “I will not think about Sa—”
“If you click your heels together, it might come true,” Sinjin’s teasing voice says from beside of me, and I yelp.
Once my heart has calmed down enough for me to speak, I turn and jab him in his bony chest. “Don’t. Do. That.”
Wincing, he runs his hand across the area my fingers poked. “You’re abusive, but I’ve got to say, I’m going to miss you while we’re on this break.” By the look on his face, I don’t exactly buy that, but I give him a sweet smile nonetheless.
“You’ll get to see me tomorrow night. And besides, I’m sure you have plans tonight.”
“Two actually. Scarlet and Bella.”
My arm has started to get numb, so I rotate the guitar to my other side. “You do know that the way you just said their names makes them sound like strippers.”
“Did you ever stop to think that maybe they are strippers?” His gaze slides past me to Lucas, who’s closing the trunk of his BMW rental. He cups his hands over his mouth. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Sinjin shouts, and Lucas shouts for him to screw himself. When he looks at me again, he looks pleased with himself.
“Be careful, Sinjin. And be . . . safe.” I start for the rental car, but he hooks his fingers around my shoulder. He nudges me around to face him, his green eyes suddenly serious and no longer teasing. “Okay, you’re freaking me out,” I say.
“Then I guess I’ll cut through the bullshit and give it to you straight. I’m not going to play dumb like I haven’t seen some of the shit that’s been posted online about you.”